


Bucking Tradition

by LaurelNymph



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Ereri au week, Gay Rodeo AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-29
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-12-08 15:22:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11649339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaurelNymph/pseuds/LaurelNymph
Summary: GOOD DIRTY FUN! AUGUST 18-20!-Texas Gay Rodeo AssociationThe words were splashed above a picture of a cowboy in profile, hat tugged low over a black undercut, grooming his horse. His Western shirt was loose, but it still clung to his torso enough to tell that he was ripped. In profile, his long, beautiful lashes were even more obvious.And with that, Eren was determined to give gay rodeo a try.





	Bucking Tradition

**Author's Note:**

> My entry for Day 8 Bonus Day of Ereri AU Week. I went with a gay rodeo AU.

It started with an ad.

GOOD DIRTY FUN! AUGUST 18-20!

          -Texas Gay Rodeo Association

The words were splashed above a picture of a cowboy in profile, hat tugged low over a black undercut, grooming his horse. His Western shirt was loose, but it still clung to his torso enough to tell that he was ripped. In profile, his long, beautiful lashes were even more obvious.

Eren was at a complete standstill, gaping at the posters plastered on the wall. He was broken out of his stupor when he heard a voice behind him.

“I didn’t know there was gay rodeo,” Armin mused as he looked on over his best friend’s shoulder at what had stopped him in his tracks.

Eren didn’t respond; he wasn’t capable of forming words yet.

There were a few awkward moments as they both stood there looking at the poster and saying nothing.

Armin broke the silence first. “So you still wanna go bowling?”

“Yeah,” Eren said. His fingers twitched. It just seemed to awkward to do this while his friend was watching. “Uh, you go on ahead. I need to… tie my shoes.”

“You wore your velcroes today, Eren.”

Dammit. How could a person be so observant anyway? Lucky for him, Armin turned his back and kept walking down the sidewalk. What a pal. Eren took advantage of the moment alone to pull one of the posters down from the wall. It was quickly folded and shoved in his pocket.

* * *

The poster got tacked on his bedroom wall as soon as they got back from bowling. Which made the whole pretext of tying his shoes pointless, since Armin would see it eventually. They _were_ roommates.

He was lying on his bed and looking at the poster when Armin came in.

“Do you know where the extra toothpaste went?”

“What?”

Armin followed his gaze to the poster. It was the second time today things got awkward between the two friends because of that thing. Armin was pointedly not making eye contact when he asked, “Should I leave?”

“No. And I put the toothpaste with the towels.”

That earned him a funny look from Armin before he left Eren’s room. He came back minutes later in his pajamas.

“Hey Eren,” Armin said, once he had Eren’s attention again. “If you want to go to that rodeo, I’ll go with you. My plans with Annie fell through for tomorrow.”

Did he want to go? The only rodeo Eren had ever been to had been when he was in grade school. A friend’s family had taken the two boys, but Carla and Grisha hadn’t approved and he hadn’t been allowed to go back. He’d honestly never had much interest in rodeo before, but he was interested in this one. There was very little LGBTQIA space in their little town and finding this felt special.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Eren agreed. Why not? What would he risk losing by trying it?

That was how Eren and Armin found themselves at the gay rodeo the next day. Eren felt strangely nervous as they waiting in line at the ticket booth, even more nervous than that one time Armin had gone with him to a gay bar in Dallas.

It was probably the huge banner stretched across the entrance of the arena, bearing a larger version of the poster with the pretty cowboy. That would make anyone’s heart race.

As he and Armin entered the rodeo, he tried to stop focusing on the poster daydream and pay attention to the rodeo itself. When the two sat down, the racing events were going on. As far as Eren could tell from his hazy memories and the gay rodeo program, the events were pretty similar to straight rodeos.

Minus the drag race, anyway.

Once the barrel racing was finished, the staff started switching up the layout of the ring. The speakers crackled back to life as the announcer called out, “Next up is the flag race!”

“Eren, let me see the program,” Armin said with a light elbow to Eren’s side. It had descriptions of all the events, which were all completely foreign to Armin, but this was one event Eren didn’t need the program for.

“The flag race is pretty cool, you have to grab the flag from that bucket—” He pointed at the bucket that was being set up on top of the barrels from the barrel race. “—run around that pole, then stick the flag back into that second bucket over there.”

The flag race was what Eren remembered most from his previous rodeo experience because he’d enjoyed watching it so much. Once the ring was ready, the announcer began with, “And first up is Cowgirl Sasha!”

A young brunette woman rode forward on her horse and easily snatched up the first flag. She tore around the pole and jammed the flag in the second bucket. It teetered near the edge of the barrel for a moment, drawing gasps from the crowd, but it finally settled without falling over.

Cheers rang out through the stadium.

The next few riders didn’t fare as well. One by one, they lost their chance at winning either by dropping the flag or knocking over the second bucket. In one catastrophic attempt, a rider knocked over the whole barrel.

The string of bad luck continued until the announcer said, “And up next is Cowboy Levi, IGRA World Gay Rodeo flag race champion!”

The cowboy named Levi entered the stadium on his horse. Eren felt his heart start to pound as he realized, “Holy shit, it’s the guy from the poster!”

So his name was Levi. That was good to know.

With a soft nudge to his horse’s side, Levi shot out into the arena. Eren had barely blinked when suddenly, Levi was planting the flag in the second bucket; he’d gone so fast Eren hadn’t even seen him pick up the first flag.

The screams as everyone realized what had just happened were deafening.

“And Levi has _smashed_ the flag race record of the International Gay Rodeo Association!” the announcer cried out excitedly.

“Wow,” Armin said. “Wow” was right. “No wonder he’s the world champion.”

“I think I’m in love, Armin.”

* * *

The rest of the flag race passed in a blur. He couldn’t stop reliving the moment that the man he’d already been admiring had performed such a feat. It was incredible.

Eren only realized the flag race was over when Armin shook him and said, “They’re starting the calf roping but I’m getting hungry. Wanna go eat?”

“Yeah, sure.”

They got some barbecue from one of the food booths. Focusing on the food helped clear Eren’s mind a little. It wasn’t until they were finished with their meal that Armin spoke up.

“Are you having fun? You’re being awfully quiet.”

“No, I am!” Eren insisted. He was too distracted to really show it, but he was. Watching the race events had been amazing, and so was the vibe at the gay rodeo. He’d especially enjoyed seeing his poster fantasy come to life during the flag race. Eren couldn’t be happier that his best friend had prompted him to go there today. “Thanks for coming with me Armin.”

“No problem,” Armin said, smiling encouragingly at him.

They threw their trash away and spent the next few hours walking around. Even though there was a lot to look at, eventually, he and Armin were in agreement that they were ready to go home.

Not even five minutes after they started heading for the exit, a sudden swarm of people came pouring out of the arena. The last event of the day had just ended. Eren felt someone bump him from the back and he stumbled forward. The next thing he knew, Armin had disappeared from his side and Eren was being swept away by the crowd.

It didn’t thin out until Eren was out in the parking lot, in an area filled with trailers, RVs, and chatting cowboys. He didn’t recognize anything around him. A quick look around showed that Armin was nowhere nearby; apparently, he had ended up somewhere else in the crush. He didn’t pick up his phone when Eren tried calling him, so he left a message.

“Hey Armin. Where are you? I’m somewhere in the parking lot, not really sure where. I’ll text you my GPS coordinates.”

He never got the chance. A voice piped up behind him, “You’re by the contestant trailers.”

“Oh, thanks man—” Eren’s sentence died when he turned around and realized to whom he was talking. He only dimly heard the crack as his phone nosedived to the pavement, his hand slack with shock. The other man winced.

“Sorry,” said Levi. The Levi. The champion flag race rider. Who was on the poster on Eren’s wall. Standing right in front of him. “I didn’t mean to scare the shit outta you.”

“It’s okay!” Eren insisted. The screen was already cracked before today since he dropped his phone a lot. But this time, as he picked up his phone, Eren realized this was one fall too many. He couldn’t even turn it back on.

After watching him struggle with the phone for minutes, Levi finally said, “Come with me.”

“Huh?”

Levi started walking away and Eren figured he should follow. He was led into one of the nearby trailers. It was sparkling clean, but a little bare. Once he saw a framed photo of Levi and an older woman who was clearly his mother, Eren realized this must be Levi’s home.

“Here.”

Eren looked toward Levi and managed to catch the cell that was tossed his way. “Go ahead and call your boyfriend. Let him know where you are.”

“Armin’s not my boyfriend,” he told Levi.

“Okay,” Levi said. He sent him a look Eren didn’t understand. After a long period of silence, Levi spoke again. “I’m gonna go make some tea. You want a cup?”

“Sure,” Eren answered, a little surprised. Maybe Levi still felt bad he’d kinda made Eren break his phone? “I’m Eren, by the way.”

“Levi.”

Which Eren already knew.

Levi then disappeared into the trailer’s kitchenette. While he waited for the tea, Eren used Levi’s phone to send Armin a text letting him know where to find him. He had just moved to put the phone back when he bumped into something warm and solid. He realized it was Levi in the split second before pain erupted in his chest.

“Shit!”

Eren had managed to spill scalding tea everywhere. Instinctively, he tore off his shirt to get the burning sensation away from his skin. Dimly, he heard Levi hiss, “Fuck!” and realized he must have spilled the tea on him as well. Now that he wasn’t panicking anymore, Eren felt like kicking himself. He’d just spilled hot tea all over his crush.

Who even did that? It was like the intro scene to a porno. Eren had never felt more embarrassed and awkward in his life as he apologized. Levi looked nonplussed as he stripped off his own wet shirt.

Well, that made things feel even more like a cheap porn flick. Too bad he was so upset about the tea he didn’t have the energy to take a look.

“Don’t worry about it,” Levi said with a shrug. “Shit happens.” He then looked Eren up and down. “Crap, you’re burned.”

A look down at his chest confirmed that Levi was right. The skin on Eren’s chest was red and raised, and still painful.

“I’m okay,” Eren insisted. The burn didn’t look so bad. He’d be fine.

“Sit down.”

Eren sat. Levi disappeared into another room. He came back quickly with a first aid kit. He dragged a chair from the kitchen table over and sat across from Eren.

“Let’s take care of that burn.” Levi fished a tube of burn cream from the kit and squirted it on Eren’s hands. Eren felt a little awkward spreading the cream on his burn, because he was basically fondling his chest to spread it, but it made the pain feel a little better.

Eren let out a sigh of relief as the pain faded even more. He turned to Levi. “Thanks.”

“You left a glob,” Levi said. He reached out and started to smooth out the cream. Internally, Eren was screaming. Levi had actually reached out and _touched his chest_. This was full porno territory now, and he didn’t mind at all.

And of course, that was the exact moment Armin opened the trailer door.

They all stared at each other wordlessly. Eren could feel his face burning with embarrassment. Armin’s mouth was hanging open. It was far too easy to misinterpret the scene; a shirtless cowboy had his hand on Eren’s bare pecs at the gay rodeo. A red-faced Armin quickly shut the door. Eren died a little inside.

Levi was the first one to speak up. “So that’s your friend?”

Eren revived enough to mumble, “Uh huh.”

“Well, I think you’re good now,” Levi said, then capped the burn cream and put it back in the first aid kit. Good about the burn, maybe, but good emotionally? Nope. Eren was still too mortified to even move. There was some rustling noise as Levi left the room and came back with a T-shirt in his hands.

“Here. You can wear this since your shirt is ruined. I think it should fit.”

Eren was torn between taking the shirt and feeling awful about how much shit he’d just put Levi through. The conscientious side of him won. “I couldn’t take your shirt.”

Levi looked at him carefully. “Just borrow it then. Come to the after-party tonight. You can give it back to me there.”

How could he turn down the opportunity to attend the after-party with Levi? Not only would he spend more time with him, but maybe the invitation meant he was interested? Lord, coming here to the gay rodeo was quickly becoming the best decision of his young life.

“Okay.”

Eren accepted the shirt, exercising all of his self-restraint to avoid the temptation to sniff it. He managed to get it on without incident and threw his tea-stained shirt in Levi’s trash. Levi led him out of the trailer and said, “See you tonight,” as Eren stepped out.

He took a few more steps and saw Armin, still blushing, leaning against a different trailer. It was deathly awkward as Eren walked up to him. Neither of them could bring themselves to make eye contact. It was silent as they started heading back to the main parking lot until Eren blurted out, “Armin, I can explain everything!”

Which he did on the walk back to Armin’s car. After listening to what had really happened, Armin asked, “Want me to ‘accidentally’ ditch you at the after-party so he has to give you a ride home?”

“Armin, you’re the most manipulative person I know. Yes.”

They got in the car so they could get some dinner before the party (and a new shirt for Eren). As Armin was pulling out of the parking lot, he said, “I never imagined you’d become a buckle bunny.”

“I’m not a buckle bunny, Armin!”

Of course, by the next morning when Eren left the gay rodeo with the belt buckle Levi had given him as a parting gift, he had to revise his stance. 

**Author's Note:**

> Buckle bunnies are rodeo groupies, fyi.
> 
> Title is modified from the tagline of the documentary Queens and Cowboys. Poster wording is from a gay rodeo poster I saw online.


End file.
